10 Times WWE Caved To Public Pressure

5. ...Rigged Game

Fabulous Moolah
WWE.com

WWE had from August 2013 onwards to try and convince audiences that Daniel Bryan main eventing WrestleMania 30 wasn't what they wanted, but each vain effort only galvanised the long and loud requests for the 'Yes Man' to get the opportunity he so richly deserved.

The company's efforts were so laughably transparent too. Bryan's weekly beatings from The Shield and Randy Orton didn't bury him, so management instead shifted him into a programme with The Wyatt Family. Audiences flatly refused to buy his storyline conversion to the cult, forcing WWE to bin it within weeks. It made for one of Raw's most emotional climaxes shortly before the infamous 2014 Royal Rumble.

His exclusion that night was the final straw - fans projected a disgusted loathing upon eventual winner Dave Batista and anybody else perceived to be responsible for Bryan's oppression until he was at long last shoehorned into the scene by virtue of opening match speedbump Triple H.

'Yes-tleMania' was the catharsis many had chased for months on Bryan's behalf. Rapturous celebrations from the New Orleans capacity crowd greeted his win as one for them over the evil WWE machine, intriguingly in keeping with Daniel's own storyline takedown of The Authority.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett